Selkie
by dolphinissy
Summary: After her parents are killed in a car accident, Mari is forced to go live with her uncle in a small coastal town. One morning at sunrise, she catches sight of a boy about her own age emerging from the ocean, and her life quickly becomes stranger than she could have possibly imagined.
1. Daybreak

p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"After my parents died, I had to go live with my uncle. He was my dad's only brother. They didn't have any sisters, and my mother had been an only child. All my grandparents were gone. There were no other family for me to go to, so he got me whether he liked it or not./p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"He owned his house, while the apartment I'd lived in with Mom and Dad had just been a rental, so it made sense for me to go live with him. I hated it, though. I'd already lost so much in the car accident, and now I had to say goodbye to all my friends and move to some town I'd only seen once on holiday, years ago. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I'd missed the end of my junior year at high school, because I'd still been in hospital with one of my legs and one of my arms broken - I'd been sitting in the back seat on the side the truck had hit our little three-door hatchback; it was very good luck that my injuries weren't even more serious than what I got - but my grades were good enough that I was going up into senior without having to do make-up exams or anything. Not that this fact made anything any better, since I'd have more than enough to worry about with school even without a couple of extra tests. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I had no idea how I was going to manage without Mom and Dad, or my friends, or anything familiar. I was terrified.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"The one consolation I could find was that the town where my uncle lived was on the coast, so even with my slow limping walk it didn't take more than a few minutes to reach the shoreline. As soon as I realised that, I started making a ritual of it. I'd get up every morning before sunrise, and hobble down the road to where the sand sloped down to the edge of the ocean. The air was always cold and fresh, and it helped me feel a bit better about facing another day of my unfamiliar new life. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"My name is Mari, short for Mariette. My Mom was French, and I always meant to learn it some day so I could talk to her in her own language. She never liked English as much as she liked French. I was going to surprise her by just starting to chat away one day. The thought that I was never going to get the chance to do that now made me sad whenever I thought about it. Everything made me sad. I missed them so much. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I look like my Dad more than my Mom - I have his thick light brown hair and his green eyes. I tan like him, too, but I also get darker freckles on my nose. My Mom always wore a hat and sunscreen so that she would stay pale, so maybe the freckles are from her and she didn't want them. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"On the day my senior year started I was sitting on the beach, feeling even more miserable than usual, missing them so hard that I kept feeling heavy, hot tears roll down my cheeks when I hadn't even realised that I was crying. The sun was just starting to creep up over the horizon, making the water shimmer like precious metal and the clouds turn pink and gold and white. It was going to be a beautiful day, but that didn't make me feel any better.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"That was the moment that I noticed the boy, down the other end of the beach. He was too far away for me to see his face clearly, but I could see that he had dark hair that clung in damp curls against his cheeks, and long, lean limbs. He didn't notice me, walking up out of the ocean and towards the rocky caves that marked the edge of the beach area.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I wondered if kids who grew up around here went exploring in those caves in summer. If teenagers dared each other to jump off the top of them into the water, even though it would have been dangerous to do so at low tide.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"When the boy came back into view out of the caves, he'd changed out of his black bathers and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Barefoot, he jogged up to the road and out of my line of sight. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"He was the first person close to my own age that I'd seen since I got here. I'd spent all my time in my room, except for the daybreak trips down to the shore. In my room, I could pretend nothing had changed, that my life was still ordinary and normal. All my things looked the same as they always had. It was only me that was completely different. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"But now reality had to start up again, whether I liked it or not. In a couple of hours, I'd be starting at my new school.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I wondered if the boy I'd seen would be in my class. p 


	2. Morning

p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"My uncle was awake by the time I got back to the house, making himself toast and coffee for breakfast. I wasn't hungry, so instead of joining him I went to my room to get ready for the day to come./p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"This new school didn't have a uniform, so I could just wear whatever I wanted. Most people would jump at that chance, but between my still-shaky leg and desperation for familiarity, there wasn't any jumping going on for me, metaphorically or literally. Not having a uniform to wear was one more thing to stress out over.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"In the end I just stayed in the same clothes that I'd put on to walk out to the beach, a long skirt and a basic t-shirt. No matter what the weather, I didn't wear short skirts or pants anymore. I was too self-conscious about the scars on my leg from the accident and the recovery. The doctors had done their best to minimize the scarring on my arm, but there hadn't been much they could do about the leg.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I brushed most of the tangles from the wind out of my hair and braided it away from my face, and looked at myself in the mirror of my dresser. I looked okay. I didn't look like someone with a secret tragic past, anyway, which was the thing I was mostly worried about.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I just wanted to keep my head down and make it through the school year without too much trouble. It felt like a reasonable thing to wish for.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I went back into the kitchen and started making myself a sandwich to take for lunch.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""I'm going into the office a little later than usual this morning," my uncle told me, still drinking his coffee. "So I can drive you to school this morning, if you like."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""No, it's fine. I need to get used to the walk," I told him. Then I gave him my best attempt at a smile, because I knew he was trying. I was trying too. We were two people who barely knew each other, suddenly shoved together and forced to play family. So we were trying. Lots of trying. It was a very trying situation.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"The walk wasn't too bad. The town had a lot of hills, but my uncle's house was close enough to the water that the neighborhood immediately around his house was mostly flat, and the school wasn't too far away. By the time I got there, my leg hurt a bit, but I'd coped with a lot worse. The physical therapist had told me I shouldn't be afraid to make it work hard.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"At my old school, the buildings had been heavy brick, and the classrooms were ancient and kind of dark. Here, the windows were wide and let in lots of light and fresh air. I missed the old style that I was used to, but this kind was really nice as well. It made everything feel cheerful, having that much sunshine in the air.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""You're new, aren't you? I'm Lisa. Your hair is so long! I wish I could grow mine like that. I always get bored of it and wind up chopping it short again before it gets very far."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"She was shorter than I was by at least eight inches, and her short hair was dyed a peachy orange-pink color. Her eyes were wide and warm and dark brown, and her smile was genuinely welcoming and cheerful. I shook her hand gratefully.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""I'm Mari," I replied. "And yes, I'm new."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""I'll sit with you, then. Everyone else has been in the same class as me since we were five years old. Thank goodness you're here to be some new blood!"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"Since they were five? Wonderful. An entire senior year of a lifetime's worth of in-jokes and friendships and understand each others' quirks, and I had to muddle my way through alongside that somehow.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"This would be even more like trying to fit into a new family than moving in with my uncle had been.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"I didn't notice him arrive, but when I glanced around the classroom again he was already in his seat. The boy from that morning, the one at the beach. His hair was dry now, but still in the same tangled half-curls as when it had been slick from the water. He was reading a paperback, and wasn't paying attention to any of the din of the classroom going on around him as people greeted one another after vacation and decided where they were going to sit.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Who's that?" I asked Lisa. "The guy sitting over there?"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Hmm?" she looked over. "Oh, that's Harry. Don't mind him. He kind of just keeps to himself. We're all used to it. He doesn't really seem to care about much except making it through school with as little fuss as possible."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"Well, that much at least we had in common. That, and early morning trips to the shoreline. I looked at him again. His entire attention seemed focused on the page in front of him, and he didn't look up. I was surprisingly disappointed by that, though I wasn't sure why. I guess I was curious to see what color his eyes were.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"The bell rang, signalling the start of my senior year of high school. I took a deep breath. Okay. Showtime.p 


	3. Afternoon

p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"span style="line-height: 1.1286;"We didn't do any real lessons, since it was the first day back for everyone else and the first day for me, period. The school campus would take some getting used to, because all the buildings were scattered over the a large, hilly block of land. The thought of wrangling my poor sore leg up and down so many stairs and slopes every day did not fill my heart with joy. /span/p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Are there any public pools in town?" I asked Lisa, as we were packing up our stuff after the final bell. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Hmm? Oh, not really. Not that people use all that much. Since the ocean is so nice here, everyone just swims in that, instead."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""I can show you," a quiet voice said. I turned. It was Harry. Finally, after wondering about it since the earliest minutes of the morning, I got to see the color of his eyes: a haunting blue-green, like the surface of the ocean on a clear day. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"The pool was a long way from the school, and after so much walking and sitting and walking all day I was feeling every step. The discomfort kept me from being talkative, but Harry didn't seem to mind, and the quiet between us wasn't uncomfortable. p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"It was my first proper look at the town, beyond the small distance between my uncle's house and the beach. I thought it seemed like a nice enough place. All of the little local shops and restaurants were open, which was different to in the city, where some weeks it seemed like half the businesses were shut up and empty. The problems of the outside world didn't seem to have much effect here.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Are you hungry?"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"Harry's question caught me by surprise. "Huh?"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""You were staring at the cafe. Are you hungry?"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Oh, no, I was just... never mind. People aren't supposed to eat before they swim, anyway, are they?"p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;"He shrugged. "I think that's just a thing people say."p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Well, I'm not hungry anyway, so it doesn't matter," I answered, feeling awkward.p  
>p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004007339478px;""Here's the pool," Harry said, apparently unaware of my embarrassed blush. p 


End file.
